Communist Youth Front of Mexico statement on arrests at solidarity event with Cuba

On July 26, the Communist Youth Front and numerous other individuals who participated in a demonstration against the attacks and blockade against Cuba were subjected to police aggression. 

Here is the full statement from the Communist Youth Front (FJC):

On July 26, members of the Communist Youth Front, along with the Communist Party of Mexico, student teachers from the Federation of Socialist Peasant Students of Mexico, young communists from the Netherlands and Brazil, and comrades from the Our America Collective, held a protest against interference and attacks against the people of Cuba, on the anniversary of the heroic Cuban Revolution.

During the rally held in the esplanade of the Cuauhtémoc City Hall, the youth expressed their support and solidarity with the Revolution, denouncing the commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States for seven decades, and the new humanitarian crime of the energy embargo with which the imperialist administration of Donald Trump has besieged the heroic people of Cuba.

The protest was held at this site in response to the offensive by Mayor Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, who last year arbitrarily and completely cowardly removed the statues of Commanders Fidel Castro Ruz and Ernesto "Che" Guevara from the Tabacalera Garden, under the ridiculous premise that the monument lacked permits from the Committee of Monuments and Artistic Works in Public Spaces.

Rojo de la Vega constantly proclaims that her administration does not tolerate administrative or civic offences, nor actions that violate Mexican law. These statements contrast sharply with the high crime rates in the Cuauhtémoc borough, which has the highest crime rates in Mexico City. The hypocrisy with which truly criminal actions against the Mexican people are covered up is striking, while the working class, who use public spaces, are openly punished

Around 11:00 AM, the contingent of protesters headed to the march commemorating July 26th when approximately 60 police officers violently assaulted men, women, and minors for allegedly committing administrative offenses during the protest. The police force targeted the FJC at all times, seeking to arrest two comrades. However, the aggression resulted in the arrest of six comrades, the theft of their belongings, including a cell phone, as well as physical assaults and extortion.

Initially, trying to control the narrative, the mayor attempted to divide the demonstration into two groups: one peaceful and the other "violent," seeking to justify her repression. The "violence" of the other group consisted of painting a slogan, which seems to be a necessary justification for De La Vega to deploy an entire operation to arrest two of our comrades. We made it clear: we were a single bloc, and at no time were there any expressions of violence in our demonstration.

As the hours passed, the images and videos went viral, to the point that we secured the release of our comrades without charges. However, the inter-bourgeois conflict between the Cuauhtémoc administration and the Mexico City government revealed the authoritarianism of the "Los Oriones" police unit, which violated all the procedures outlined in the Penal Code for arrests

Through her social media, Mayor Rojo de la Vega wrote to acknowledge the proper actions of the police. She stated that in her administration there is freedom of expression and that violence is not tolerated. Meanwhile, she deployed a whole advance force of police officers, who did not hesitate to use violence to take four of our colleagues to the Public Prosecutor's Office in the Cuauhtémoc borough without any charges, in addition to the two who were accused of committing administrative offenses. Because of this action, the Police Inspection Personnel of the Auxiliary Police are studying the case for possible procedural violations. This makes it clear that the charge of administrative offenses was nothing more than an excuse to politically repress our demonstration.

From the Communist Youth Front, we emphasize that we are not on the side of any bourgeois group, we do not sympathize with any of MORENA's anti-worker and anti-popular policies. Nor will we serve as cannon fodder for the private interests of any capitalist party

Our position is firm: you are either with the bosses or with the working class, and the Communist Youth is affirmative that there is no future in social democracy. We fight for the end of capitalist exploitation, and we organize ourselves under the principles of proletarian internationalism. For this reason, we are fervently in solidarity with Cuba, with its people, with its revolution.

We will continue to demonstrate against the criminal blockade and against the imperialist measures with which they intend to suffocate the dignified Cuban people. We will continue to demand the reinstatement of the "Encounter Monument" in the Tabacalera Garden in memory of those young rebels who turned history on its head and emancipated the people of Cuba from the imperialist yoke.